The Hidden Risks of Mobile CRM, Part 2

As mobile marketing evolves, so do its risks. "It's crucial to be able to design and deploy an overall communication strategy and then specialize it for a mobile device in order to avoid content replication, provide more control over access points to data, and get better insight into who is using which device and how," said Pegasystems' Steve Kraus.

Mobile marketing may just be in its infancy, but it already has ushered in a world of new risks -- or rather, existing risks that have been repackaged.

They range from running afoul of still-developing regulations to security concerns, to consumers misinterpreting content. Part 1 of this two-part series identifies some of these issues. Following are some suggestions for addressing these emerging risks.

1 Customer, Many Devices

As people collect devices and connect with the Internet through multiple access points, keeping a marketing message consistent is becoming more essential. Fortunately, companies have available to them modern platforms that enable developers to build applications in a single place and then allow access to content through a variety of channels, including mobile devices.

"By doing this, businesses can monitor a single system and control their communication amongst their employees and between employees and prospects/customers, regardless of the channel and device," said Pegasystems Senior Director of Product Marketing Steve Kraus.

"It's crucial to be able to design and deploy an overall communication strategy and then specialize it for a mobile device in order to avoid content replication, provide more control over access points to data, and get better insight into who is using which device and how," he told CRM Buyer.

There are a lot of reasons to focus on coordinating messages and branding across channels, not the least of which is the potential impact on a company's bottom line.

Consistent marketing has a cross-channel impact on sales, at least two separate studies have shown.

For example, shoppers in retail stores who previously visited brand websites spent 37 percent more on the brand than did non-visitors to the sites. Also, the length of time that visitors spent on a brand's website helped determined their likelihood to buy the brand's products in retail stores, according to
a study conducted by Accenture, comScore and dunnhumbyUSA.

Further, satisfied mobile users were 40 percent more likely to purchase the same company's products through other channels, found
a study by Foresee.

Securing Your Customer

Security is another risk mobile providers have to take into consideration -- especially as study after study has shown that security concerns are one of the primary factors holding back mobile commerce.

It takes just one high-profile loss for consumers to completely lose faith in a retailer's or national brand's mobile operations. After all, m-commerce is not yet viewed as a necessity for modern life. Consumers aren't as attached to it as they are to social media or 24-7 cellphone connectivity.

If mobile commerce seems unsafe, it doesn't cause much hardship to avoid it.

You only get one chance to get it right with customers, Syed Hasan, CEO of
ResponseTek, told CRM Buyer. "So our suggestion is to make sure you design your mobile CRM app with this context in mind."

Make sure there are additional security layers in the app so a login is required periodically, he advised. Also, think about the data that is really relevant for a mobile user, taking into account the device and use cases.

"We believe in making sure our mobile CRM apps are functional and useful, but the data available is contextual to the user and use case," noted Hasan. "This reduces risks of the wrong data getting into the wrong hands."

Erika Morphy has been writing about technology, finance and business issues for more than 20 years. She lives in Silver Spring, Md.